Chateau Grand Marchand 2012 Bordeaux

I thought this wine looked promising because it’s a few years old now, older than most Bordeaux we get, and the “88 points” sticker from the Wine Enthusiast. (I’ve liked their online tasting notes.) Indeed, I think this is pretty good for the price.

I thought the wine needed 1:40 of air in a decanter to relax and show its fruit, starting with a fairly simple earthy red cherry. It continued to develop nicely until we finished off the first ¾ of the bottle, about 3 hours after opening. Then, it showed complex dark fruits of ripe plum, cherry, mulberry / blackberry, purple grape, with typical Bordeaux brown earthiness, in a lighter medium body.

The saved, single-glass, screw-cap bottle still needed a bit of air, slowly developing along a similar path as the first part of the bottle, although the fruit didn’t seem to be as forthcoming. I didn’t really give that glass long enough to air, but it did at least show that the wine will be fine the next day.

Post navigation

3 thoughts on “Chateau Grand Marchand 2012 Bordeaux”

I’ve bought about four bottles of this Bordeaux. It’s really amazing. Definitely my favorite red wine. I just wish my local grocery outlet could still get it. I would definitely buy more of it if I could find it locally at a good price.

Thanks for this review. I tried this last night, giving it about an hour to open up. I thought it was very solid and a great deal. It had a seemingly contrasting flavor elements – fruit and earthiness. The fruit was there but not cloying like so many modern wines and it had that nice, dry, earth profile that French wines have. I think this would actually appeal to more than just old world wine appreciators.